Concept and Aims

The Challenge

What are the origins of modern society, our collective culture, moral codes and religion? As parents, teachers, broadcasters - citizens - we have all seen the values of our society shift and change, and witnessed the loss of this shared cultural memory in our children.

Our Approach

Based in a fascinating and turbulent period of history, 69-71AD, Friends and Heroes places Bible stories in a vivid historical context. It uses animated adventure stories to introduce a new generation of children, whatever their faith, to the stories of the Old and New Testaments in an appealing, fresh and memorable way. Children love the stories: "Friends and Heroes rocks!" said one recent e-mail. Boys are strongly attracted by the central male characters, the danger and the exciting action!.

This approach - of setting Bible stories in the living context of the people who kept them alive, by passing them on ‘down the line’ to children - runs throughout as a constant motif. It demonstrates the reasons why these stories were preserved and the impact the stories and their preservation had on those who kept them alive. It introduces Biblical stories in an appealing, fresh and memorable way, creating a clear connection between the religious themes and exciting adventure stories by the innovative use of traditional, drawn and computer generated animation. Traditional, drawn animation tells the adventure stories, mixing seamlessly to computer generated animation for the Bible stories, two or three of which are interwoven in each episode.

Children Today and Yesterday

The adventure stories take place almost two thousand years ago, yet Macky and the gang will appeal to today’s children; they are attractive, inspirational, and very real characters…. funny and brave, but just like us in the twenty-first century, they don’t always get things right! They face similar issues and dilemmas to those faced by youngsters today. Their experiences, combined with the stories they tell, will help foster respect for and kindness to others, as well as encouraging tolerance.

The Gift of Knowledge

Friends and Heroes seeks to empower children to listen to their conscience and to make good decisions about respect, kindness, compassion, faith and tolerance, based on knowledge and not ignorance.

1+1+1=1 Reviews Friends and Heroes Homeschool Bible Study Curriculum

In the review, Carisa Hinson, the author of 1+1+1=1, says "after looking at the initial lessons, I was thrilled!" and that she and her daughter "had a GREAT discussion which stemmed from the curriculum." She even goes on to say "we will be continuing on with this curriculum after this review, [my daughter] is really enjoying it and I am loving our discussions."

She writes that her children are "loving" the video components of the lessons and that she finds the curriculum "entertaining, and engaging, but also full of information at the same time." She even says that her family looks forward to using the materials for their homeschool Bible study curriculum for the rest of their school year!

The influential Catholic religious education website Amazing Catechists recently published a warm and in-depth review of Friends and Heroes DVDs and Bible Curriculum.

The reviewer said that Friends and Heroes is "a fun series that my own children have enjoyed...(and) The style of the story-telling is very earnest, with clearly-enunciated moral lessons." She went on to say that Friends and Heroes historical content and accuracy means "the videos are worth watching for older elementary school students."

Maribel Sanders of the Jeremiah 29:11 Homeschool Momblog recently wrote a wonderful review of Friends and Heroes Homeschool Unit Study 1 after working through all of the material with her daughter.

Her comments included, "My daughter and I really enjoyed going through this homeschool study together...The suggested activities were fun...I loved the creative writing assignments, how the Bible was being taught in such a child friend matter, and the hands on activities...(and) Friends and Heroes Homeschool Study is complete for its purpose and I would recommend it."

David Dorricott interviewed on Wallbuilders radio!

David Dorricott interviewed on Wallbuilders radio!

Wallbuilders, a popular USA radio program, recently interviewed David Dorricott, Executive Producer of Friends and Heroes. The interview centered on the idea of teaching Biblical history through adventure stories. Wallbuilders' hosts Rick Green and David Barton expressed their appreciation of the mission and message of Friends and Heroes as well as the high-quality nature of Friends and Heroes resources for families, churches, schools and homeschool families.

You can listen to the interview here or hear the entire program on the Wallbuilders website.